Medical treatments by curietherapy require radioactive sources whose characteristics depend on the localization and the extent of the zone to be treated. These sources, which are placed in source carriers, are stored in an enclosure provided for this purpose and brought at the moment of treatment into a so-called projection device whereby it is enabling the introduction of these loaded source carriers into tubular applicators placed in the zone to be treated. The storage enclosure is usually placed in a room other than the treatment room, whereas the projection device is disposed next to the patient to be treated, which requires the transportation of this device and special precautions to ensure the safety of the treating staff.
In our copending application Ser. No. 788,791, filed concurrently with the present one on Apr. 19, 1977, we have disclosed and claimed details of a radioactive-source carrier guided by a flexible sheath into an applicator designed to contact an anatomical part to be treated.